Mortgage is in ex's name and I am unable to refinance.

The house was awarded to my wife in the divorce from her ex-husband and the mortgage is in his name only. My wife was never able to get the home refinanced into her name as required by the divorce decree. Now we are have fallen behind on some payments we were making to her ex for the mortgage and he has sent us a certified letter from himself stating he is evicting us from the residence. Can he do this? What can we do to remedy this situation? Tennessee law prevails in this case. Thanks in advance.

Why was she making payments to the ex vs. the lender directly?  Anyhoo ...

The notion that her name isn't on the deed would be a little odd.  Are you sure you aren't assuming something based on the mortgage being in his name alone (not relevant/dispositve as to ownership)? 

No, he's not in a position to "evict" her.  If he tries to interfere in any way with her residency, she ought to call the police.  :)  He's free to take her back to divorce court on a contempt motion for not refinancing the place into her own name, but no landlord-tenant court would issue an eviction order based on what you're referring to here.  (It may well be that he doesn't understand that it isn't a matter of simply saying "get out!" but getting a court order.)

If you want to stay in this house, however, seems you need to work out the financing issue before he gets a court order that the place needs to be sold.

His threat to evict you as a tenant is worth its strenght in wet toilet paper --and probably evidences his frustration and lack of knowledge more than anything.

What exact time frame does order set for her to get place refinanced?   Start with a specific answer?

His name is the sole name on the existing deed and on the mortgage as well. She has tried to get it refinanced in her name but has been unsuccessful. We are trying together to buy a home so her ex can sell the existing one. Now he is trying to evict us from the residence.

I have no clue what you mean by "trying to evict" 'cause unless there's an eviction case pending before a local landlord-tenant court, not even a case of "trying".  :)

You don't need to buy a house to get out of the current one, of course, and I presume there's something about this house's value vs. what you two can afford in terms of financing that's at issue.  Might save everyone time/trouble if she'd just agree to move out by, say, early spring so that he could get it on the market by late spring.

There is no time frame set in the decree. It only says that she will assume all financial responsibilty and ownership of the residence.

There isn't anything to get out from under in the current residence. See even though the decree orders her to bear the financial burden she has not been able to do so. Therefore in any lenders eyes she does not have an existing mortgage to get out under from. Her ex bears sole financial responsibilty currently in the lenders eyes. She has the decree though stating the house is hers. The house is not worth what her and her ex paid for it and they are still upside down on the payments. I could probably buy the house from her ex but currently it is just a money pit and I refuse to sink any more into it. This is why we are looking to buy a new home and let her ex try to sell the existing one but since we have fallen behind on payments to hin that he pays the mortgage with then he is trying to evict us now.

Yours is not an uncommon post and unless the order sets a defined time to get it done its pretty hard to make a point of contempt --and the posts here suggest  the  occupant gets a series of more tries to get it done .

What is a reasonable effort to seek refinance  and time to get it done may be in beholers eyes until the judge gets tired and cuts the Gordian Knot?

I think I've seen posts here where a it takes a couple of years more....

I am not an attorney. However, I think the ex has to go back to court and seek an amendment to the existing order that says that if she does not get the place refinanced within x number of days, (typically sixty to ninety days) then the house is to be put on the market and sold. Then he gets to watch the offers come in that won't pay off the existing mortgage balance, but that's another issue altogether in today's depressed real estate market.

I don't think that your local landlord/tenant court would not touch this one with a ten-foot pole. It's really a family law matter.

However, he eventually will get it right. If I were you, I would plan on moving in the not too distant future.

Why did your wife keep the house if she is unable to afford it or refi? In this case a time frame should have been specified that she is to refi within a certain number of months from the divorce or the house is to be sold.   Honestly your wife and him need to put the house up for sale. He probably has to go to court and file a motion to force the sale. Since the house was awarded to her in the divorce I doubt he can evict but it doesnt seem correct you guys get to stay there and pay nothing so if ex goes to court, he likely will be able to to domething to get the house, and his credit is now ruined.

It would be most unwise to pay EX and assume he pays mortgage if not otherwsie required to do by order or to at least stay current with knowledge that he pays--he can scuttle the ship by pocketing the money and letting debt go into default  and lender forces you out where he lacks ability to do so. .

Ok. The house was in Ch.13 bankruptcy until first of 2011. Divorce was in 2008 i believe. So payments weren't a problem for her, nor an option, since it they were payroll deducted. Half from him and half from her even after the divorce. Then once the CH.13 was discharged the payments had to be made by her alone. She kept the house due to small children needing an immediate place to live. She has made the payments to her ex since then so he could make the payments to lender. We both know him well and his credit is more important to him than pocketing the money so we trusted he paid the lender with the money we sent, and he did. He is still paying it just we haven't paid him in a couple of months. Not saying it is right but it is what it is. Anyway, once the Ch.13 was discharged she applied to have the loan refinanced a few times and has been denied due to her credit rating. I didn't refinance because I wanted to save my first time buyer status for a better home and neither of us want the house we are in now. The only reason we are still here is that we haven't found another house to buy yet. 

Now you throw in more variables --and sure to mess up ability to refinance anything. Who was in Ch 13--not house--but people!

But generally speaking  the two of them are NOT discharged from duties of who supports who for what--but Ch 13 is a bit different than Ch 7 and she best get bankrupcy attorney to comment.

Her duty to pay him probably remains intact and she is toying with contempt to fail to do so--except if impossible.

I'll bet court gives her multiple 60 days windows to keep trying  if she tries to try.....then ultimately the plug gets pulled and forced to a sale and she is forced out .

Her credit will stink in any case.

Both of them were in the Ch.13. She has tried but to no avail.

Just as she has moved on, I suspect that he wants to move on as well. But, he probably cannot get another mortgage without retiring the first one.

If I were her, I would get together with him, possible with the assistance of her divorce attorney, and just state that her credit post chapter 13 just is not good enough to get refinancing. They both jointly file an amendment to the existing court order and state that the house is to be listed for sale instead. If there is any profit, they split it in whatever manner seems equitable. If the house cannot be sold for the outstanding mortgage balance, then he will seek approval for a short sale. Since they were both in a chapter 13 bankruptcy, I can't say that a short sale will damage either person's credit any more than it has already been damaged. But, with only his name on the mortgage, he is going to be the one who will have to approach the lender about a short sale.

You two negotiate a move out date. You don't like the place anyway. So, you might as well vacate it and get this issue resolved once and for.